|
Raja Rammohan Roy - The Pioneer of Modern Reform
Born in a devout Brahman family in 1772 and brought up
in a strictly religious atmosphere, Rammohun Roy rebelled against all the
Brahmanical traditions and conservatism and came to be acknowledged as
the herald of the age of reason in India. He was a scholar of Arabic, Persian,
Sanskrit and Bengali. He studied English language and literature which
brought home to him the whole range of western liberal thought. Later he
learnt Hebrew, Greek and Latin in order to understand Christianity through
the original texts. He developed a broad vision and adopted a critical
attitude towards socio-religious and political problems.
He also studied the Upanishads and other religious
scriptures. Though he was impressed with the moral precepts of Jesus and
with the monotheistic principle of Islam, He remained a staunch Hindu who
realised the necessity of re-interpreting Hinduism. Rejecting the narrow
Christian claims, he accepted the wide humanism of European thought and
its ethical approach to the problems of life. To liberate Indian society
from the fetters of dogmatism, authoritarianism and medievalism he struck
a balance between the best elements in indigenous and western cultures
and founded the Brahmo Samaj in 1828. The Samaj was not a Christian dilution
of Hinduism but a synthesis of European enlightenment with the philosophy
of Vedanta. It was indeed based on genuine Hindu traditions. Its outlook
on life was neither Hindu nor Christian but European, drawing its inspiration
from the European intellectual quest. Its social message of westernization
was meant to purge Hinduism of its vicious customs and superstitions, to
raise the status of women, to bridge the yawning gulf between popular and
higher Hinduism, to fight relentlessly against caste, social taboos, polygamy,
idol-worship and other well-entrenched abuses. He took up cudgels against
atheism as much as against Christianity, and thus enabled Hinduism to withstand
the onslaught of Christian missionaries. According to R.C. Majumdar, "Brahmo
Samaj effectively helped the progress of Hindu society by stemming the
tide of conversions, by holding a living example of a society based on
progressive and liberal views and supplying eminent persons who advanced
novel liberal ideas in other spheres such as politics."
But to identify Raja Rammohun Roy exclusively with the
Brahmo movement is to ignore his valuable contribution to national life.
With Max Mueller, we may call him the "Father of comparative theology",
but we must admit that his religion was wedded to the service of humanity.
The Raja was a rationalist reformer who did pioneering work in the socio-religious
sphere. He bequeathed a rich legacy of rationalistic spirit and freedom
of individual conscience.
Rammohun's religion was simple and practical. He declared
a universal faith and shifted the emphasis from metaphysics to utilitarian
ethics. He preached a lofty monotheistic creed based on the central concept
of the "formless" God; yet it was a theistic concept and the
God of Rammohun was immanent in all things and the world was created, governed,
preserved and destroyed by Him. The world was not illusory but real according
to his theistic interpretations. He interpreted the soul and its nature
on the rational grounds of social welfare rather than on any metaphysical
grounds. Salvation, according to Rammohun, meant the attainment of happiness
or knowledge of the Divine. But he held that idol worship and ritualism
were quite unnecessary. The concrete form of worship of God, he believed,
was service to man. Thus he championed a cause which could bring maximum
happiness of the maximum number of people. His philosophy thus can be termed
as religious utilitarianism emphasizing social amelioration and a better
and happier life. Religion was to him a media to reform society.
Rammohun Roy wanted to reconstruct Indian society. He
deemed sati as atrocious murder. He quoted such law-givers as Yajnyavalkya
and Manu and pleaded with the government to legally abolish this inhuman
practice. He also awakened public conscience and strengthened the then
government. He wrote and propagated against polygamy and caste system and
thus prompted Indian society to march ahead on the path to social progress
and change. He also pleaded for modern and secular education. In his famous
letter to Lord Amherst in 1823, he expressed his keen desire for the introduction
of English education and English language as the medium of education for
higher studies. His political views were also rationalistic and he believed
in the creed of liberalism and justice, freedom of thought, expression
and press. Raja Rammohun Roy, as the harbinger of the new age, belongs
to the lineage of great seers and reformers who delivered the message of
the "Eternal Man". He embodied the new spirit of reason, instinct
of free enquiry, thirst of scientific knowledge, human sympathy and ethical
values along with a reverential but not uncritical regard for India's spiritual
heritage.
The Spiritual Renaissance
The nineteenth century was a creative age of great potentialities.
It produced an unusually large number of distinguished men in different
parts of the globe. It was an era of new awakening in almost all walks
of Indian life. Historians have generally associated this cultural awakening
with the impact of the West. But a careful study shows that behind the
overall consciousness and general stir to reform medievalism, there existed
a deep rooted spiritual urge for higher values within the very soul of
the country.
It cannot be denied that during the six hundred years
of Islamic suppression, Hinduism as the religion of a vanquished people
suffered significant setbacks. It was during British rule that Hinduism
could stand on a plane of equality with Islam. With the state policy of
non-interference in socio-religious matters, an air of freedom was experienced
by religious leaders who proceeded with confidence to deliver eternal message
of love and to provide the suffering humanity with solace and relief. They
awakened slumbering masses by their new spiritual message and inspired them
to attain the highest truth through simple devotional path. Such leaders
as Soami Shiv Dayal Singhji, Swami Dayanand Saraswati and Ramakrishna Paramhansa
were far above any western influence in their thinking. Neither Christianity
nor English education had moulded their thought and philosophy. They were
indeed, spiritual light and sacred truth incarnate. Through their own intuitive
realization and inner revelation, they came forward to be the founders
of such important movements as the Radhasoami faith, the Arya Samaj and
the Ramakrishna Mission. Remote from the centres of modern civilization
and immune to westernization, they appear before Indian society with their
simple and illuminating exposition of the spiritual ideals. Like the sages
and seers of the past, they took a very firm stand on the bedrock of "mystic
realization" and "spake like one in authority". They demonstrated
the efficacy of a practical method of attaining the ultimate reality and
inaugurated an enthusiastic quest after the eternal and transcendent Truth.
Indeed, there was an urge from within to identify one's own self with the
highest and the noblest of the Spirit, that heralded a spiritual renaissance
in the country. The Radhasoami Faith, founded in 1861 was the first such
movement. The Arya Samaj and the Ramakrishna Mission joined this unique
phase of spiritual renaissance much later.
In an age of skepticism, the founders of the Radhasoami
Satsang presented a bright and living faith to give spiritual solace to
the thousands of men and women by a rational and practical approach to
intellectual doubts and queries on religion and spreading the divine light
of love and faith far and wide in an unprecedented manner.
|
|
